In portable winch units of this general type, the ratchet wheel dog mounted on the hand lever is selectively positioned between ratchet wheel engaging and clearing positions, and must be positively maintained in such positions. A variety of operating mechanisms have been developed for positioning the ratchet dog. For example, in one such mechanism, a tension spring is slidably positionable with respect to the pivot point of the ratchet dog to selectively permit the spring to impose a biasing force on the ratchet dog, causing the dog to be pivoted in opposite directions. With this mechanism, there is a likelihood of pinching when the coil spring is shifted.
Still another mechanism provides a separate, pivoted spring-shifter plate mounted adjacent the dog to shift the spring end within the dog slot between two operative positions. While this separate spring-shifter plate avoids contact with the spring end and avoids the hazard of pinching, this spring-shifter plate presents another component part of the mechanism that complicates the structural arrangement and increases the cost. The spring-shifter plate must be positioned necessarily by a handle that could cause unintentional shifting of the tension spring if brought into contact with another object, and cause unintentional movement of the ratchet dog.